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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29149245">Enthusiasm</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sariahsue/pseuds/sariahsue'>sariahsue</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>"fake" relationship, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Post Reveal, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Post-Reveal Pre-Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, horde of screaming fans, they tried anyway, they're also very lucky that Adrien's just as crazy as Marinette, tom and sabine are good parents</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:02:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,390</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29149245</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sariahsue/pseuds/sariahsue</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been three weeks and two days since the reveal, and Marinette has come up with a perfect solution for the horde of Adrien's fans currently chasing them: fake dating! But as soon as she introduces her parents to her new "boyfriend," her plan falls to pieces.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>318</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Enthusiasm</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalahadWilder/gifts">GalahadWilder</a>.</li>


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/753456">Why post-reveal fake dating wouldn't really work</a> by sariahsue.
        </li>

    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Adrien skidded around another corner, Marinette at his heels. He couldn't imagine how she was still smiling as they ran, but she was, broad and bright, like they were racing across the rooftops to the nearest landmark, instead of running from a horde of his frothing fangirls. Their shrieks and screams echoed in his ears.</p>
<p>Marinette's hair whipped behind her. The wind caught her laughter. Their arms pumped in unison.</p>
<p>And a stitch pounded painfully in his side. Even with the conditioning of basketball, fencing, and superheroing, he was getting winded. Shouldn't the fans be tired by now? How were they keeping up?</p>
<p>This was the second time he'd been chased down like this. And just like last time, Marinette was with him.</p>
<p>They'd revealed their identities three weeks and two days ago, and she'd been glued to his side ever since. Mostly, it'd been great, though he wished he hadn't dragged her into this, even though she didn't seem to mind.</p>
<p>With a shout and a gleeful smile, Marinette knocked over a trash can as she ran, spilling garbage across the sidewalk behind them.</p>
<p>"<i>Litter</i>-ing, my lady?"</p>
<p>Her groan turned into a gasp for breath.</p>
<p>"It'll slow them down," she puffed out a few seconds later.</p>
<p>He wanted to tell her that it was a brilliant plan, sure to secure their safe escape, but he bit his tongue. It had been three weeks and two days since he had last flirted with her. Ladybug had always made it clear that she didn't return his feelings, and Marinette was so far out of his league. He'd just push her away if he tried again. And much more than their personal relationship was at stake now. So instead he said, "Good idea. Got any others?"</p>
<p>"Sure. Get a girlfriend."</p>
<p>Adrien tripped on a gash in the pavement but caught himself before crashing face-first into the street. "W-what?"</p>
<p>"If you had a girlfriend," Marinette said as she glanced behind her, "all these rabid fans of yours would latch onto the next eligible, hot, famous guy."</p>
<p>
  <i>She thinks I'm hot.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>And it doesn't make any difference to her.</i>
</p>
<p>"In fact," she continued, "there seems to be a whole pack of girls to choose from right there!" She waved behind them. The howls grew in intensity.</p>
<p>There was only one person he wanted to be with. He wanted to be with her so badly. "Tempting," he said, "but I think I want to date someone less..."</p>
<p>Marinette took a deep breath, her cheeks pink and splotchy. "Psychotic?"</p>
<p>"I was going to say enthusiastic."</p>
<p>"You're always so nice. This way."</p>
<p>Adrien was glad she turned to lead, because it meant she missed the way his blush deepened from the compliment. It wasn't much of a compliment, but it hit him hard all the same.</p>
<p>Blocks of pavement abruptly turned into a black ribbon of asphalt surrounded by thick grass. Families sat nearby on blankets. In the distance, people clumped by the edge of the pond to feed the ducks. Meanwhile, Marinette followed a bend in the path and threw herself into a hedge.</p>
<p>"Behind here!" she hissed.</p>
<p>Without a thought, Adrien jumped into the gap after her, lungs burning. They weren't very far ahead of the group. They had maybe thirty seconds before they either passed the hiding spot or found it.</p>
<p>"Oh, I just realized a problem with my girlfriend plan," Marinette whispered.</p>
<p>He forced a slow breath. "That's great news. What is it?"</p>
<p>"No one's ever going to believe you're dating one of them if you're running away with me." Marinette crouched underneath the twisted branches of the bush, one knee in the dirt. She jerked, turning to look at him with panic in her eyes. "I didn't mean you're running away with me," she blurted out. "I mean, you are with me. And running. But f-from them. With me."</p>
<p>"There's another problem with your dating idea," he said, to spare her. "None of them actually want me. Just some eye candy and the brand name." He strained his ears. Should they be able to hear the horde by now? A welcome breeze cooled his face and made the leaves around them shudder.</p>
<p>"Hey, I never said the girlfriend had to like you," Marinette said in a hushed voice. "She just has to exist."</p>
<p>"So a fake relationship to throw people off?"</p>
<p>"Sure!"</p>
<p>"Sounds terrible."</p>
<p>"It'll totally work."</p>
<p>The low rumble of dozens of footsteps started, and then grew louder, and Adrien lowered his voice and stayed very still as he said, "You're really invested in this idea." He leaned toward her, bumping her shoulder with his own. "You volunteering?"</p>
<p>Marinette <i>squeaked</i>. </p>
<p>"I heard something! It's them!" a voice called. The pounding stopped. Girls shrieked in delight. And Marinette tumbled backward through the bush away from the paved path and stumbled to her feet.</p>
<p>Adrien followed quickly, just quickly enough to hear her say, "W-well, if-if you neally reed the help, I'm four here. Here for you."</p>
<p><i>Way to go, Adrien! You made her stutter again.</i> Which meant he'd messed up. Flirting with her felt like part of his genetic makeup at this point. It was a constant struggle to push back the impulse, but the way she was looking dead ahead, avoiding him, reminded him why he'd sworn it off three weeks and two days ago.</p>
<p>"This way," he said. She followed him easily, and her implicit trust in him (especially after he'd upset her) was almost enough to send him to his knees.</p>
<p>A loud howl from the group behind him shook him out of that feeling, though. Suddenly his knees were fine.</p>
<p>"There's a problem with my plan too," he said.</p>
<p>Marinette stayed silent.</p>
<p>"Nino and Alya would never believe we got together so fast."</p>
<p>Marinette snorted like she didn't believe that. The grass ended at a row of flagstones, and then Adrien and Marinette turned back onto the sidewalk. "We could always test it out on someone else first, if you're worried about it. Like my parents. If they believe it, our friends will."</p>
<p>"Isn't that backwards?" Adrien asked. She wasn't taking the obvious out that he'd given her? "Don't people wait until they're thinking of marriage before bringing people home to meet their parents?"</p>
<p>"Marriage?" Her face was turning pink again. "No! Yes? Nnnnnooooo!" Even though she was running, she managed to flap her arms around her face, batting away his question. "It'll fee bine! <i>You're</i> fine! BE FINE! Where are you taking us?"</p>
<p>"To a fromagerie." One with a large selection of Plagg's favorites and a brick storefront that seamlessly connected to its neighbors. He'd been inside it so many times to feed his kwami's bottomless stomach, and he'd learned by necessity (slipping away from the Gorilla to fight an akuma) that it had a convenient escape route for them. "Quick," he said. A bell tinkled as he opened the door, ushering them inside. Adrien glanced through the wide shop windows to the horde of people chasing them. They'd seen which door they'd gone through. Good.</p>
<p>Marinette saw them too. "We'll be trapped in here! Where's the back door?"</p>
<p>"There isn't one. Come on." He bolted for the bathroom, Marinette's footsteps pounding in time with his. It was barely big enough to qualify as a closet, but it had everything it needed. A sink, a toilet, and a window. The view was terrible. A small gap between the buildings barely big enough to fit the surrounding businesses' dumpsters and fire escapes - and a slit of sky.</p>
<p>"The alley through there isn't accessible from the front of the building." Adrien climbed onto the back of the toilet and pushed open the window. It was just low and big enough for someone to crawl through. "They'll have to go all the way around the block to get to the back."</p>
<p>"Fantastic," Marinette said, climbing up next to him.</p>
<p>"Um." Was it getting warm in here, or was it just Adrien's face?</p>
<p>Her hip had brushed against his hand as they balanced on the back of the toilet together. He cleared his throat. "I'll give you a boost, and you can land on the dumpster."</p>
<p>"I got this," she said, and pulled herself through the window without a second thought.</p>
<p>Adrien tumbled after her, landing on the (thankfully closed – he'd forgotten to check) top of the dumpster. "Ah, the glamorous life of a superhero."</p>
<p>"And world-famous supermodel."</p>
<p>"Of course." Adrien mimed putting on a pair of shades, then slicked his hair back and took a step forward, into the imaginary spotlights of the catwalk. Something squelched.</p>
<p>Marinette laughed. "Okay, hotshot. Scrape off your shoe and let's go meet my parents."</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>The bakery loomed high over Adrien's head, bearing down on him. Its sweet invitation of cookies and pastries was a siren call that he knew he should avoid, and yet he couldn't, because Marinette was standing next to him, explaining how she was going to tell her parents she was in love with him.</p>
<p>"They're probably going to be happy for me," she said. "And probably... overly excited. Sorry. Try not to get too overwhelmed, okay?"</p>
<p>Adrien nodded numbly, reaching for the door handle. Marinette grabbed his hand, and he jumped.</p>
<p>At first he thought she was trying to stop him, but she looked him straight in the eye as she laced her fingers through his. "Well, we have to look convincing, don't we?"</p>
<p>Adrien was pretty sure he nodded and said something like, "you're right of course," but he wasn't entirely certain what words came out of his mouth. Marinette's fingers slid through the gaps of his, smooth and electric and reassuring. She gave him a quick squeeze before opening the bakery door.</p>
<p>A puff of warm air, laced with the smell of fresh bread and melted chocolate hit him in the face. Tom and Sabine chatted softly behind the counter, smiling at each other, but they cut of their conversation as soon as Marinette called out from the doorway.</p>
<p>"Hey, you two remember Adrien, right? Well..." She trailed off for dramatic effect, lifting her arm, putting their conjoined hands on display.</p>
<p>As predicted, her parents both started to squeal. As predicted, they came out from behind the counter, faces bright and smiles wide, hugging both teens, and telling Marinette how happy they were for her. Not as predicted...</p>
<p>"So, Marinette." Sabine's eyes started to twinkle in a way Adrien had never seen his father's do. He tensed, sensing an unknown danger. Marinette must have felt it too. Her arm locked stiffly next to him.</p>
<p>"You finally confessed to Adrien," Sabine continued, "after all these years of sighing and pining."</p>
<p>Adrien's heart stopped. Pining? Years? Adrien? The words made no sense in the order they left Sabine's mouth. Marinette hadn't been the one pining.</p>
<p>"Mama, please," Marinette pleaded, desperation bleeding into her voice.</p>
<p>"Did she tell you about that yet?" Tom asked in his booming voice, slapping a hand on Adrien's shoulder more gently than he'd expected from the giant man.</p>
<p>"No, I haven't!" Marinette said, an edge of panic clear in her voice. "And I don't think now's really the best time."</p>
<p>He was missing something, some crucial bit of information. It sounded like she... but that couldn't be right.</p>
<p>"Oh, come. Look at him," Sabine said. "Look at how happy he is. I'm sure he'd love to hear how in love you are with him."</p>
<p>"Did you know," said Tom, "that she doodles her name as Marinette Agreste in all her sketchbooks?"</p>
<p>"Papa! We literally <i>just</i> got together. You can't tell him stuff like that!"</p>
<p>Adrien's gaze volleyed back and forth between the two parents, unseeing. "Doodles" was a present tense word. That meant she still did it regularly. This had to be some kind of weird joke.</p>
<p>"Oh, Tom, tell him about the macarons."</p>
<p>"No, don't tell him anything!"</p>
<p>"And we can't forget all the presents she made you!" Tom added.</p>
<p>Maybe Adrien's heart wasn't the only thing to stop. His brain had ceased to function. Or maybe it was working overtime, trying to take in every detail: the blush rushing up to Marinette's cheeks, the strong grip she had on his hand, so tight the tips of his fingers were starting to tingle, the softness and joy in her parents' eyes when they looked at their daughter, the way they turned that expression on him, Marinette's quick glances at him, so vulnerable and beautiful. It... it was all true?</p>
<p>"Haha, yeah, I was pretty crazy back then. When I was much younger," Marinette said, trying another tactic. "I'm sure he doesn't want to know all the details."</p>
<p>"Back then?" Tom asked. "You were kissing your posters of him just this morning."</p>
<p>"PAPA!" Marinette's blush covered her whole face, neck to hairline, a deeper shade of red than her Ladybug mask. "I'd love to have some embarrassing stories to tell him <i>later</i>. So let's not tell him all of them right now."</p>
<p>As they dove into the story of the time she switched all her passwords to MrsAgreste4ever, reality started trickling into Adrien's overwhelmed brain.</p>
<p>She loved him.</p>
<p>Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Ladybug, his best friend, the love of his life, was as totally head over heels, hopelessly, crazy in love with him as he was with her.</p>
<p>And he'd successfully asked her out. They weren't fake dating. They were real dating, or they would be, as soon as he told her the truth.</p>
<p>All three of them turned to look at him, and the conversation lapsed into silence. He needed to say something, he dimly realized. Had they asked him a question?</p>
<p>He wanted to tell her that he'd figured it out. He wanted to dissolve into a happy puddle of goo. He wanted to tease her with a smooth, "Looks like the cat's out of the bag, my lady." He wanted to run back into the street and shake the first person he saw until they realized how amazing Marinette was.</p>
<p>He wanted to propose to her right then and there.</p>
<p>Instead, his knees went so soft that he had to lean against her for support and he said, "The bag's cat like Marry-nette." Because of course it would come out like word soup. And of course he could still pun without a functioning brain.</p>
<p>She went stiff beside him. The shoulder he was leaning against raised defensively. And the smiles in the room all dimmed together.</p>
<p>"Are you feeling well?" Sabine asked, stepping closer.</p>
<p>He scrambled for a cover to what probably sounded like a stroke. (Maybe he was having a stroke. Could surprises cause one of those? No, maybe that was shock. Was he going into shock?)</p>
<p>Marinette leaned forward to get a better look at his face, squinting up at him with worry.</p>
<p>Adrien cleared his throat. "I was feeling dizzy earlier, and a wave of it just hit me. It's probably nothing. We were running. I think I just need to lie down," he said, hoping Marinette would take the hint and excuse them. He needed to get her alone. He needed to talk to her.</p>
<p>But doting parents were not something he was accustomed to taking into account. "I'll get you some water," Sabine said.</p>
<p>"Milk and cookies might be better," Tom said.</p>
<p>"Good idea. You get that. Adrien, dear, do you need a blanket? Would you like to lie down upstairs? Our couch pulls out, if you think you need a nap!"</p>
<p>"I-" Adrien stopped and swallowed. "No, thank you. I think sitting down for a minute will be enough." He tried to catch Marinette's eye, but she turned her face away, and he started to wonder if something was wrong.</p>
<p>"Sitting down's probably a good idea," Marinette told the floor.</p>
<p>When she took the offered cookies from her father, she let go of Adrien's hand, so he took the opportunity to put an arm around her waist "for support" so he "wouldn't fall over," and he really did start to feel dizzy then. Marinette stammered through a promise to get Adrien a glass of milk and make him lie down, and then pointed the way to the door that led up to their home above the bakery.</p>
<p>Adrien cleared his throat as they walked up the stairs side by side, hoping that would get her attention,but she kept her face down. Why wasn't she happy? Was she happy and not showing it? She knew how much he loved her. He'd spouted enough poetry and bad pickup lines at her throughout their partnership. She had to know how crazy he was about her. Maybe the amount of crazy was the problem. He'd slipped in the word "marry" by accident a minute ago. He shouldn't have done that.</p>
<p>Marinette led him up the stairs and through the door of their living room, shutting it behind them with a soft click, putting the plate down on the counter, and only then did she look up at him. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.</p>
<p>"What?"</p>
<p>"I'm as bad as those girls we were running away from. I'm sorry!" Her voice grew louder with every word. "I promise, I'm going to try being less of a stalker. I mean, I'm not really a stalker, because we know each other. I'm not psychotic!"</p>
<p>She- she didn't know. How could she not realize how in love with her he was? Her hands waving in his face snapped his attention back to what she was saying.</p>
<p>"And it's not like I only like you for the Agreste brand, because I like you for you." Her voice crept up in pitch and in speed too, until she was almost going faster than he could keep up with. "I mean, you don't like me, actually you probably think I'm creepy now, and that's fair."</p>
<p>"I don't-"</p>
<p>"You see? That's the difference between me and them, that I'm not going to chase you." She threw her arms over her head. "Oh no, but I tricked you into fake dating me! I'm so sorry!"</p>
<p>"Marinette-"</p>
<p>"I shouldn't have gushed to my parents about you so much! Then they wouldn't have told you all that stuff. If you want to fake break up with me, I'd understa—"</p>
<p>Adrien cut her off with a kiss, pulling her hands away from her hair so he could run his own fingers through it instead. But she was stiff and unmoving under his touch, so he stopped the kiss much earlier than we wanted to.</p>
<p>"Listen," he said, pulling back only far enough to see her reaction to his words. "One of us tricked the love of their life into fake dating them, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't you."</p>
<p>Marinette's eyes were glazed. "So... you think it was you?"</p>
<p>"No, it's the third lovesick superhuman in the room."</p>
<p>"So Plagg," Marinette said, a hint of a smile on her lips.</p>
<p>Adrien tried not to stare at those lips. Plagg gagged from one of Adrien's pockets.</p>
<p>"Are you..." She took a deep breath. "You're okay with this then?"</p>
<p>"Yes," he said. "And I'm really glad you gushed about me. Didn't they say you have some presents for me?"</p>
<p>She blushed furiously and looked away, maybe out the window. He couldn't take his eyes off of her to check.</p>
<p>"What was better? Kissing a poster-" He leaned into her space so far, it could almost be a threat to dip her for another one. His hands snaked around her waist. "-or the real deal?"</p>
<p>Marinette glared at him even as she grabbed his shoulders for support. "I'm going to say it's the poster and that you're really bad at kissing."</p>
<p>"Oh, but you hate liars," he purred.</p>
<p>"Hmm... someone has a high opinion of himself for never having kissed anyone else before." The blush dusting her cheeks gave her away.</p>
<p>"You think I'm great." He pressed a quick kiss to her lips. "You think I'm great a kissing." And another. "You think I'm great at a lot of things." Another.</p>
<p>Marinette pushed at him. "Adrien!"</p>
<p>"What?" he asked, the picture of wide-eyed innocence. "Is there something wrong with enjoying the adoration of my psychotic girlfriend?"</p>
<p>"Enthusiastic," Marinette insisted, one hand coming up to cradle the back of his head as he came in for another kiss.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I originally posted this as a vague idea on my Tumblr. Thank you to galahadwilder for getting me to write the whole thing!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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